While they have high hopes for Pascal Leclaire, the Senators signed Brian Elliott to a two-year, $1.7-million deal yesterday.

The 24-year-old Elliott appeared in 31 games with the Senators last season, with a 16-8-3 record a 2.77 goals-against-average and a .902 save percentage.

After Alex Auld was dealt to the Dallas Stars for a sixth-round draft pick, the Senators committed to keep Elliott as the backup. He will earn $800,000 next season and $900,000 in 2010-11.

Elliott will be insurance for Leclaire, dealt to Ottawa by the Columbus Blue Jackets in March, who has had a difficult time with injuries through his career.

“(Elliott) proved last year he was a very capable NHL goaltender,” said Senators GM Bryan Murray. “We think he is a young guy with a real bright future and we are obviously very happy to get him signed and committed for two more years as we are committed to him.

“Hopefully, he will grow in our organization and be a real strong player going forward.”

Won’t be rushed

With Leclaire in the fold, the Senators won’t be forced to rush Elliott into action.

Elliott was supposed to spend all of last year in Binghamton, but was called up when it was clear neither Martin Gerber or Auld was a capable enough starter.

While Elliott was strong, setting a franchise record for a rookie goalie when he won eight straight games from March 5-21, he was plagued by a penchant to give up bad goals at bad times. Murray said Elliott proved he can be a capable NHL player.

“Very much so,” said Murray. “We thought that Brian was game ready, NHL game ready. We thought it would be a disservice to him not to give him this opportunity here.

“Alex was traded based on that. We now think that our goaltending is in the hands of two good young guys that should make this organization very competitive on a nightly basis.”